From the swampland that is Florida, comes the newest Sabbatherian-vibed band the drinks from the riff house that Iommi built. Right from the opening chords of “Hell”, you know that Shiver are here to smoke, drink and pound heads with their grooves. In fact, the songs on this four track EP could be outtakes from the long-lost Down album (yo, Phil! Drop the mega-lame Viking Crown and get back to some good music dude!). Bass player Ceci Shaw claims that the band’s sound is “a vintage blend of power chords and darkness”, and that’s a fairly apt description of the rumbling that Shiver makes.

All sounds great right? Well…yes, but to be totally honest, there isn’t much on this EP that you haven’t heard from other, more well known stoner bands. These bayou boys (actually, most of ‘em are from Tampa Bay) are plowing fields that ceased being fertile a few years ago. Now, with the huge splash that more cutting edge bands like Agents of Oblivion are making, it’s going to take more than “run of the mill” to cut it. Still, the band bashes out their songs with gusto, partially making up for this shortcoming. As well, the songs are catchy, with the aforementioned “Hell” being the best. “Dirty” also breaks from the normal shouting/crashing to throw in a more progressively doomy feel that adds some variety to the album.

Not much else to say really. With Shiver you know what you’re going to get. Right now, these guys will most probably fall into the love/hate category: if you don’t like stoner metal, then you won’t dig ‘em, but if you really get into this form of metal, then Shiver will provide you with the tonic to your stoner jonesin’. Contact: shiverinc@hotmail.com